When it Rains, it....Well, You Know.

So the house I moved to back here in good 'ol T-Town is my Grandma's house. The house, in the grand tradition of ranch houses, is three pieces (all different ages) sort of patched together. The oldest part (about 150 years old) is my bedroom, the living room, and the dining room. The rest of it (at a sprightly 100 and some odd years old) is the second bedroom, second bath, pantry, and kitchen. The third part is a positively infantile 27 years old and consists of the Blue Bathroom, the sitting room, and the mudroom. So besides half the house being insulated only in retrospect and therefor not very thoroughly, every single door has a 1/4-1/2 inch clearance on three sides. The wind in spring in TTown is horrendous and I am freezing. But this actually isn't an entire blog on the shoddy patchworkness of my house and how I am freezing as a result. Its about dinner with my Grandma and Great Aunt Helen.

Grandma is not dead (hence how I was able to have dinner with her tonight without going all X-Files). She was diagnosed with Parkinson's (I think she's just old. She's 89, for God's sake!) and she as a result moved into the granny-unit at my parents' house and I (and my then-finace' Chris) moved out here. I've done a bit of this and that to make the house my own, but I still feel like I'm in Grandma's house. You know, because I am. Anyway, she's come up once since I moved in in August and although she had nothing but nice things to say, I wasn't eager for the next visit. But since my parent's are currently on vacation, and they flew Grandma's sister Helen down from Oregon to sister-sit (Helen is a puny 85 years old), I offered to cook them dinner. Which they took to mean at my house....
Now I'm not a great house keeper at the best of times, so cleaning this afternoon was harried and stressful, but rewarding. Its awfully nice to be able to sit at the computer and know that you have absolutely nothing else that needs to be done. Anyway, I was pretty nervous to have them here without the buffer of my mom's presence. I cooked fettuccine con funghe e pollo with peas. Which, I have to confess is just my limited knowledge of Italian coming into play when what I really made was Trader Joe's mushroom fettuccine, adding some chopped chicken breast and a side of peas. But it sounds so much better to say "Fettuccine con Funghe e Pollo", doesn't it? English or Italian, it tasted pretty good and The Ladies were impressed. Then I took them on a tentative and nerve-wracking (for me anyway) tour of the updated bits of the house. Helen, who is a spinster and contrary and singularly-willed because of it, was actually impressed and pleased, saying that I must have painted my room with sunshine, it was so bright and airy! I have to say that I don't think Aunt Helen is contrary BECAUSE she never married, I say she's contrary and singularly minded because she's lived so long without a roommate, partner, spouse, or friend to temper her will and whims. She must have everything just-so and if she doesn't she huffs and puffs and rolls her eyes and grunts. This used to be quite funny - especially when she did it at the pastor in church (because he wasn't preaching right) but as I've gotten older (and, I suppose, more contrary :-) and she's gotten older and even more singular, its become a nuisance and the family can only find that good ol Aunt Helen Humor in retrospect - when she's back on a plane to HER coffee pot, and HER bed, and HER food etc. All the things in life - but done RIGHT. Lol. Anyway, I was convinced that this evening would turn out horribly and was delighted to find instead that the three of us quite enjoyed ourselves.






...but I'm still freezing....

Wow, this has gotten rambling. Good thing I don't have any 'followers'! :-D